Pike wins statewide beekeepers' essay contest

Leslie Pike of Hodgenville read her award-winning essay Saturday, June 6, to more than 350 beekeepers at a regional Beekeepers Association meeting in Grayson County.

DeAnna Lasley

Leslie Pike of Hodgenville read her award-winning essay at a regional Beekeepers Association meeting in Grayson County.

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The essay “The Dance Language of the Honeybee” explains the history and significance of a bee’s dance. Also included in the essay were several types of dances.

Pike won first place in the state for her essay and second place in the nation. The sixth-grader’s winnings totaled $600.

The daughter of Les and Angela Pike, she said she entered the contest with winning in mind. Her grandfather, Rudolph Meredith, is a beekeeper.

The meeting took place at the Walter T. Kelley Bee Hive Co. in Clarkson. The Kelley Company is the leading supplier of beekeeping materials in the country.

The field day featured several educational sessions about beekeeping, hive inspections and making splits and divides and how to mark queens and re-queen hives. Instructors included state Apiarist Phil Craft, KSBA President Martin Hickey, and Dr. Tom Webster with Kentucky State University, among others. Several movies were shown about beekeeping, two were first showings of PBS specials.

Kentucky has 26 chapters of beekeepers, which are listed at www.kyagr.com/statevet/bees/association/index.htm.

For more information about the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association visit www.ksbabeekeeping.org.

The next beekeeping meeting will be Nov. 14 at the Warren County Extension Service office in Bowling Green.